Thursday, February 26, 2009

CAN'T GET YOU OUTTA MY HEADThis jingle goes right round baby right round

Yet another Starbucks location is coming to the one city in the world already with the highest number of Starbucks locations in the world.

Vancouver soon gets another SB location at the corner of Robson and Denman streets.

At my count, which may or may not be accurate, that marks the 8th or 9th Starbucks on Robson Street (including the two kitty-corner to each other at Robson and Thurlow).

I bite my nails from growing fear that this coffee retailer has become the single most identifiable cultural landmark in Vancouver. The only thing we have more of here is umbrellas.

That said, I'm really liking Starbucks' latest television campaign encouraging Americans to get involved in volunteerism by donating 5 hours of time.

The ad is a strong convergence of creative marketing and the public messaging coming out of Barack Obama's office lately which encourages everyone to volunteer in your own community.

Plus, the jingle in the ad is as catchy as VD. Take a look, and a listen...

Stuck in your head now, right? I'm not trying to promote Starbucks, but I gotta give 'em props (or their ad agency) for developing a TV commercial that I like to look at and comes with a jingle more easily ingrained in my brain than that other one airing on TV these days for Mini Wheats breakfast cereal.

The golden era of TV and radio jingles is long gone, but I sure don't mind if they come back.

At the end of the day, it's the core message about volunteering that got to me, and that means they did their job well. They now have me - and maybe you? - thinking about how to give back a bit.

"There's a lot of fluff, a lot of gossip, a lot of fodder that's sort of on people's minds, and I'd much prefer these types of subjects to be encompassing their brains and hearts"- Drew BarrymoreNYC, February 2008